The present invention relates to renaming files.
A file name is a string of characters that identifies a file. Most operating systems support file names up to 255 characters or more in length. In the Windows operating system, a file name can contain alphanumeric characters and also the following characters: ! @ # $ % & ( ) ′ ‘ - { } ˜ + , . ; = [ ] and the space character.
In some operating systems, a file extension can be appended to the end of a file name. A file extension specifies the file type and typically is represented as a delimiter character (e.g., a period character) plus additional characters (e.g., three alphanumeric characters). Many operating systems use file extensions to identify the file type or which application to invoke to open the file. For example, a file having a file extension of “.pdf” indicates to the operating system that the file is stored in portable document format and therefore must be opened using the Adobe Acrobat® program. Adobe Acrobat is a document management program available from Adobe Systems Incorporated of San Jose, Calif.
In some cases, a collection of files may consist of files whose names have been automatically generated by a computer. In such cases, the user may wish to rename some or all of the files in the collection so that the names are more meaningful or descriptive. For example, when a series of digital image files are downloaded from a digital camera into a software program such as Adobe Photoshop® also available from Adobe Systems Incorporated, the files are assigned computer-generated names such as DSGF001.JPG, DSGF002.JPG, and so on. The user may wish to rename the files to reflect, e.g., the subject matter of the image (e.g., YOSEMITE.JPG).
Renaming files can be tedious. Typically, multiple keystrokes are required to rename each file. For example, on the Apple Macintosh platform, renaming a file involves at least the following keystrokes: a first keystroke to select the file; a second keystroke to enter rename mode; and additional keystrokes to enter the new file name. Renaming multiple files requires repeating each of the above keystrokes for each file.
Besides being tedious, renaming files can also lead to loss of information. Because the entire file name, including the file extension, is typically modifiable during rename mode, the file extension can be erased or corrupted inadvertently during the renaming process. Erasing or corrupting the file extension may cause the operating system to be unable to open the file because the information that indicates which application to use has been lost.